Woodworking machines having a horizontal table and a power driven cutting tool projecting upwardly through such table and rotating about a vertical axis, have long been used in the art for cutting grooves in, or finish on a workpiece. To accurately guide the workpiece along the side of the cutting and/or shaping tool, guide members, commonly called a fence, and defining an elongated vertical planar surface against which the workpiece is advanced into contact with the cutting tool, is a matter of some difficulty. This positioning problem is addressed and solved in my prior U.S. Pat. No. 5,215,296.
When the cutting operation has to be performed on a workpiece surface which is abutting the fence, or closely laterally spaced relative thereto, it has been the prior art practice to cut an opening or recess in the vertical planar guiding surface and also the horizontal planar bottom surface of the fence to prevent inadvertent contact of the cutting tool with such surfaces. Such opening creates several disadvantages. When the leading edge of the workpiece enters such opening, there is a distinct tendency of the cutting tool to draw such leading edge into the opening, resulting in a defect on the cut surface of the workpiece known as a snipe. More importantly, the opening represents a hazard to the machine operator. Furthermore, such large opening permits the ready discharge into the environment of dust and chips inherently produced by the cutting operation notwithstanding the fact that an air flow into the opening is created.
It follows that an improved fence construction that overcomes the aforesaid deficiencies of the prior art and eliminates the safety hazard, represents a desired improvement in the art of woodworking machines.